Live Tampa Bay listings inside the VM Homes brand, not on someone else’s portal.

Challenge

VM Homes LLC has served buyers and sellers on Florida’s Gulf Coast since 2016, led by Valerie McClary, a Realtor for 23 years. The team works St. Pete Beach and Tampa Bay as Sun & Shore Group, brokered by eXp Realty.

The site had no search of its own. A buyer who wanted to look at homes was sent off to a generic portal, and once they were there, the team’s name was gone from the screen.

The old site was a brochure: a bio, a few photos, and a contact form. Buyers glanced at it and left for Zillow with a listing already picked out, and the site never got credit for the sale. Inquiries were sporadic, and the ones that came in started cold.

Buyers at this price point look quietly. They want current listings and a clear read on each area before they introduce themselves, and anything that slows that down costs the team a conversation.

So the search had to live on vm-homes.com, under the team’s own name. A nicer brochure would not have changed who called.

Solution

We built the site on WordPress with the Divi theme and added IDX search through the Lofty plugin, which pulls listings from the MFRMLS feed. Current listings show inside the VM Homes brand with prices, beds, baths, and square footage.

Search is organized by the areas the team works: North and South Tampa Bay, the Gulf beaches, North and downtown St. Petersburg, and St. Pete Beach. Each has its own neighborhood page, so Valerie can send a buyer straight to the part of the market that fits them.

Every page ends in a next step a buyer can take without feeling chased: schedule a tour, ask for a seller consultation, or talk to the team.

Results

The site now does two jobs: it carries the brand, and it brings in clients. Buyers see live inventory early, and the team gets better conversations when those buyers raise their hand.

Tour requests through the site climbed steadily after launch, and they now arrive with a property already chosen instead of a vague "what's available."

Stewardship

RelentNet still hosts vm-homes.com and keeps WordPress, Divi, and the IDX plugin updated; since launch.

RelentNet still adds new neighborhood pages as the team's coverage grows, keeps the Sun & Shore Group details current, and tunes the listing feed as the market shifts.